History (and ice cream) at Grey Towers

With many holidays on the calendar to celebrate, a few hover under the public's radar. However, in recent years, Sept. 25 has been getting more attention — and for good reason.

JOHN WARCHOL

With many holidays on the calendar to celebrate, a few hover under the public's radar. However, in recent years, Sept. 25 has been getting more attention — and for good reason.

National Public Lands Day began in 1994 with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers. Last year, 150,000 volunteers worked at more than 2,000 locations in every state and in many U.S. territories. Now, eight federal agencies and many state and local lands participate in this annual day of caring for shared lands.

Lori McKean, assistant director of programs, partnerships and communication of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service's Grey Towers National Historic Site, said, "National Public Lands Day is a nationwide initiative that celebrates all the different types of public lands that we get to enjoy. National forests, parks, monuments, sites, wildlife refuges and more are just some of the places that are conserved and preserved for public use. These are all celebrated on this day in many different ways."

Last September alone, volunteers removed an estimated 900,000 pounds of trash, collected an estimated 20,000 pounds of invasive plants, built and maintained an estimated 1,320 miles of trails, planted an estimated 100,000 trees, shrubs and other native plants, and contributed an estimated $14 million to improve public lands across the country.

On National Public Lands Day, Grey Towers offers a fee-free open house, which means that visitors can see all three floors of the mansion and move through at their own pace for free. Normally there is a fee for a guided tour, and only the first floor is shown. "We offer this to help celebrate the fact that the Pinchot family was generous and donated their private home for public use," McKean said.

The Grey Towers Heritage Association will also continue the tradition of the popular ice cream social. When Gifford Pinchot was governor of Pennsylvania in the 1920s and the 1930s, he and his wife, Cornelia, opened their private home at Grey Towers to the people of Pennsylvania on numerous occasions. The most popular was the ice cream social.

McKean said, "The Grey Towers Heritage Association re-creates the ice cream social and invites the community to enjoy free ice cream and the Grey Towers estate."

Visitors can expect free ice cream from 2 to 4 p.m. All ice cream is homemade by the Dairy Bar in Milford.

Music from the 1920s will be offered. Historic films will include clips from the original ice cream socials and President John F. Kennedy's dedication at Grey Towers in 1963.

Not only was the Pinchot family popular for ice cream socials, but in 1963, the family donated its home, Grey Towers, to the American public to carry forward the Gifford Pinchot legacy.

McKean said that most recently "the family arranged for a conservation easement on 1,200 acres of their private land adjacent to Grey Towers, which opens that land up for public use and research. The big national picture, though, is that it was Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt who set about establishing the U.S. Forest Service and initially set aside more than 150 million acres of national forest land that we all enjoy today."

What is the importance about our public lands and why we celebrate a National Public Lands Day?

McKean emphasized that America is fortunate to have so many types of public lands; some, like the national forests, are managed for multiple use while others, like national parks, are preserved to remain unchanged.

"All of these are public lands, and each serves a unique and different purpose for America. Overall, our public lands serve to maintain our natural and cultural heritage," she said.

McKean also said that visitors should be aware about the ongoing construction at Grey Towers. There is no handicap access to the mansion and limited vehicle access for those with limited mobility. The ice cream social is handicapped accessible, but the mansion is not.